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The subject of "Ethics" science and its importance in the life of society.
Ancient World Ethics
Plan:
1. The subject, tasks and importance of ethics in the life of society.
2. The moral significance of the concepts of hedonism and eudemonism.
3. Ethics of the ancient world
Ethics is a theory of ethics, it is one of the oldest human sciences that studies the moral life of people, reveals the specific characteristics of moral phenomena and the laws of development. While researching his subject in close connection with social relations, he did not limit himself to determining the laws and functions of the origin and historical development of morality, but also the social nature of morality, the behavior of people, the laws of moral regulation and, through it, social studies processes.
Before ethics was formed as an independent science, it was considered a component of philosophy, even its core. Philosophers in the process of answering the problems of worldview (the world that surrounds a person, the place of a person in this world), ways of knowing the world, how should a person live and work in society, what are his social duties and tasks. should consist of, the norms of human marriage and other similar questions.
Ethics is an ancient science with a history of several thousand years. In our country, it is known by such names as "Ilmi ravish", "Ilmi akhlaq", "Ethical science", "Etiquette". This science was introduced by the Greek philosopher Aristotle. While classifying the sciences, Aristotle divided them into three groups.
First group - philosophy and mathematics;
The second group includes ethics and politics;
In the third group, he included arts, crafts and applied sciences.
-Thus, the ancient Greeks raised the teaching of ethics to the level of a science and called it "Ethics". Nowadays, this subject is called "Ethics" from the point of view of scientific and modern requirements
So what does the phrase "ethics" mean?
As long as ethics studies the origin and essence of ethics, the moral relations of a person in society, we must first understand the meaning and essence of the phrase "ethics". The word "Akhlaq" is derived from Arabic and is the plural form of the word "khulq". The term "ethics" has two meanings: as a general concept, it means the research object of science, and as a specific concept, it means a comprehensive part of human character and behavior.
If we take morality as a general concept and reflect it in the form of a circle, the smallest part of the circle is etiquette, the larger part is behavior, and the wider part is morality.
Etiquette includes beautiful behavior based on national traditions, which create a pleasant impression on a person, but are not so important in the life of the community, society and humanity.
Behavior is a set of pleasant human behavior that is important at the level of family, community, neighborhood, but does not have a significant impact on society and human life. Morality is a set of positive actions that can serve as an example for society, time, and human history.
We will try to explain these ideas through examples. Let's say that a young man, a student is sitting in the subway. An old man got out of the next station and stood in front of him. If the student immediately makes room by saying: "Sit down, father", he has done a good deed: those watching from the side will thank him and say: "Bless you, he is a decent young man." . On the contrary, if the student either looks backwards, or puts himself in a doze and does not make room for the old man, we get angry. But, at the same time, as a result of the student giving up or not giving up a seat for the old man, there is no significant change in the life of the passengers in the carriage, whether positive or negative.
An example of behavior can be given as follows: one of the heads of the family in our neighborhood serves as much as possible in all the events of the neighbors, does not spare anyone the help he can, has an open heart, an open hand, always shares his knowledge. strives to improve, diligent, kind to family members, etc. We call such a person a good person and consider him as an example of our neighborhood. On the other hand, if he behaves rudely with his neighbors, starts quarrels at parties, starts talking, punches, gets drunk, If he hits and abuses his wife and children in the family, we call him a bad person. His family and some individuals suffer from his misbehavior, the peace of the neighborhood is disturbed, but his actions do not affect the social life of the community or the history of mankind.
As for morality, the matter takes on a serious nature: let's say that a district or regional prosecutor always works for the rule of law and justice in the area under his responsibility, and if necessary, opposes the illegal orders of the governor and calls for their cancellation. achieves: in the eyes of ordinary citizens, he is not only a person who respects his profession, but also a real guardian of law, a symbol of a just system. , serves the further development of that society. If this prosecutor, on the other hand, becomes a defender of the law and violates the law himself, for his personal benefit, if he sees white as black and black as white, then he has committed immorality. In the eyes of an ordinary citizen, the idea arises that not only the prosecutor is unjust, but the whole society is unjust. And the steady growth of this imagination will eventually lead to the decline of that society or system.
Of course, all three moral phenomena and their opposites are relative. For example, there is a difference between the level of immorality of the prosecutor that we have just given, and people like Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, and Pol Pot, who sentenced millions of innocent people to death for their sole rule: if the prosecutor's immorality harms a nation or a country, the actions of the rulers of the totalitarian system lead to tragedies on a global scale.
At this point, it should be emphasized that as a result of moral education, decency turns into good manners, and good manners turn into high morality, so in a place where moral education is not established, a certain person, in due course, turns from bad manners to immorality, and from badness to immorality.
The science of ethics includes ethical relativism (represented by Protogoras, Georgy), ethical rationalism (represented by Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus), eudaemonism, Hedonism, Asceticism, the Cynics and the Stoic school, as well as the theory of conscious egoism (represented by Spinoza, Helvestius, Holbach). those who operated in the forms. Together with the doctrines of the moral theory created by the great philosophers who created in this stream and schools, Kaikovus' "Nightmare", Saadi's "Gulistan", Jami's "Bahoristan", Navoi's "Mahbub-ul-Qulub", Gulkhani's "Nightmare" created by Eastern thinkers. Works dedicated to practical ethics, such as "Zarbulmasal", also have a strong place in the treasury of spiritual thought. The difference and uniqueness of ethics from other philosophical sciences is the combination of theory and practice.
At this point, we will briefly comment on some moral teachings.
Hedonism - (Greek, hedone - pleasure) - is the principle of justifying moral requirements in the theory of ethics, according to this principle, what brings pleasure and relieves suffering is good, and what causes suffering is evil. is reefed. The basis of hedonism is the idea that the main driving principle in man, created by nature and determining his work, is pleasure. The goal of attaining peace is declared to be at once a desire and at the same time a moral imperative. Hedonism, as a moral principle, instructs people to strive for the joy of the world, to obtain maximum pleasure for themselves and others.
In Greece, those who were admirers of Aristippus ethics and considered pleasure to be the highest happiness were called hedonists. In contemporary bourgeois theories, hedonism usually exists only as a method of defining the good as a methodological principle. Today, most of the scholars of ethics consider the definition of goodness by means of happiness to be a gross polishing and vulgarization of moral problems.
Asceticism (from the Greek askeo - I am practicing) - asceticism - a principle characterized by extreme abstinence from worldly pleasures or complete renunciation of pleasures in order to achieve religious perfection. In early times, in ancient Greece, asceticism was called practicing the virtue of virtue. Asceticism was theorized in ancient Eastern religious teachings and later in Pythagorean teachings. In early Christianity, he was called a hermit who spent his life in peace and quietness, fasting and praying. During the Reformation period, the early Christian and medieval ideal of asceticism changed. Protestantism demanded "secular asceticism". The first peasant and proletarian movements called for asceticism. It was a form of protest against the ruling class living in luxury and idleness. Later in the science of ethics, asceticism was seen as unreasonable and unjustifiable self-sacrifice, the result of false ideas about moral perfection.
Eudaemonism (Greek, eudamonia - pleasure, happiness) is a methodological principle of ethics close to hedonism. eudaemonism was most fully manifested in the moral theories of the ancient world. (Democritus, Socrates, Aristotle). The pursuit of happiness is considered by eudaemonism as the criterion of morality and the basis of human moral behavior, the pursuit of personal happiness is called individualistic eudaemonism, and the pursuit of social happiness is called social eudaemonism. French materialists of the XNUMXth century (Helvestius, Diderot) were also supporters of eudemonism, who declared that human happiness is the ultimate goal of any society and any useful human activity. Eudemonistic ethics is incomparably higher than Christian ethics in its activity and humanism, because it calls for happiness on earth, not in the afterlife. However, eudemonism gives the concept of happiness some kind of universal, ahistorical meaning, whereas in a society divided into antagonistic classes, there is no and cannot be a single vision of man's duty. Happiness also depends on that social condition. Therefore, the eudaemonistic justification of morality is not scientific.
Egoism (Latin, ego - I) is selfishness, a vital principle and a moral quality that characterizes a person in terms of his attitude to society and other people. egoism is expressed in the fact that a person acts only for his own interests, without taking into account the interests of society and those around him. It is one of the manifestations of individualism. egoism is very characteristic of private property relations. As a moral quality, egoism has generally been negatively evaluated in the history of human moral consciousness, but it is also true that during the struggle against the ruling organizations of feudal society, egoism played a certain role in justifying the right of each individual to pursue happiness. theories promoting egoism became more and more antisocial (Stirner), then reactionary (Nistsche), and the conscious devotion to egoism as a false moral principle turned into amoralism.
From the perspective of the Stoics, morality is a universal cosmos with law as a component of universal reason. To live according to morality means to live in harmony with public law. Just as the order of the natural world is compatible with reason and purpose, a part of this world order and human nature are also compatible with reason. But this perfect state is evident only to the wise. So, in order to be wise and moral, a person should always educate himself.
Only a morally perfect person can always resist the morality of the external environment. According to them, everything in nature requires each other and there is a predetermined, inevitable necessity in the world. Therefore, a person should obey him without objection. Otherwise, he will be entangled in his actions and desires, and he will be deprived of his inner freedom and suffer. A person has only to change his spiritual world, to perfect it and in this way to gain freedom.
The science of ethics is related to the science of philosophy. In ancient times, ethics was considered an integral (third) part of philosophy together with physics and metaphysics. Later (after Aristotle) it received the status of a science of a separate philosophical direction. This idea can be broadly interpreted as follows. It is known that the task of philosophy as the king of sciences is to draw general conclusions from the achievements of all natural and social sciences and lead mankind to the truth. Based on this, the research object of philosophy is the development of thinking and it serves to lead a person to the truth through virtue. Therefore, it can be called "philosophy of morality" or "philosophy of goodness".
Now, as a philosophical science, he works in three directions, that is, while studying the development of moral thinking, he describes ethics: firstly; secondly, it explains; thirdly, it teaches. Accordingly, it has an experimental-narrative, philosophical-theoretical and formal-normative nature. the ancients called it practical philosophy. After all, pure theoretical ethics cannot exist. He explains the nature of morality and draws philosophical conclusions by explaining examples of wisdom gained by mankind through his own experience in the form of proverbs, sayings, proverbs.
Ethics is developing in interaction with other socio-philosophical sciences. Especially, its connection with aesthetics (aesthetics) is ancient and unique. First of all, every action and intention of a person is related to both morality and refinement, that is, a certain positive activity embodies both goodness (inner beauty) and refinement (outer beauty). That's why ancient philosophers like Socrates, Plato, and Pharoah interpreted morality as inner beauty and sophistication as outer beauty in many cases. In addition, it is known that art is the main research object of respiratory science. In each work of art, the actual problems of morality are raised, and the artist always directly or indirectly reflects the highest moral level achieved in the time in which he lives. So, philosophies will be studied from the point of view of ethics.
The relationship between ethics and religion is that both disciplines are aimed at solving the same problem - the problem of moral criteria. Because certain customs and values that existed before the emergence of universal religions had a great impact on certain religious laws and sacred religious books. At the same time, religions also had such an influence on morality. For example, if we take the religion of Islam, criteria and requirements in the Holy Qur'an, Hadith Sharif, Ijma' and certain fatwas have gained great importance in the formation of the moral level of the nations of the Muslim East. Also, the problem of the perfect person is common to both disciplines. The difference is that ethics approaches this problem from the point of view of modern education.
The relationship between ethics and jurisprudence has a long history. It is known that, in many cases, moral standards and legal standards are identical in essence and content. Accordingly, morality can be called public-based law, and law can be called morality that legislates. After all, the research objects of ethics and jurisprudence are similar in many ways, they differ only in terms of approach. Enforcement of legal norms is usually carried out on the basis of mandatory sanctions through officials in special justice agencies: while moral norms are established by generally accepted national customs, public opinion, and not by specific individuals, but by a specific social group, carried out by society. Also, aspects of practical ethics important to the legal profession are researched and recommended by a special branch of ethics called legal ethics.
Ethics is also closely related to pedagogy. It is impossible to imagine the processes of personality formation, upbringing and education in pedagogy without advice and etiquette lessons. Therefore, ethics is the basis of pedagogy with its theoretical and practical aspects. After all, education in the educational system manifests itself as moral education at every step.
Since ancient times, the relationship between ethics and psychology has been of special importance. After all, both of these sciences study people's behavior, character and inclinations. But this study is conducted from two different points of view: psychology reveals one or another behavior, character, causal basis (motives) and conditions of formation. Ethics explains the moral significance of the phenomena studied by psychology. The relationship between ethics and sociology is unique. Both of these disciplines study ethics, which is a social virtue that governs human activity. But the scope of ethics is wide in this regard. It is known that sostiology studies the public behavior of people and their laws only within the framework of a certain social system. And ethics, by its essence, when necessary, goes beyond the scope of a specific social system and, as a high achievement of human morality, personal, exceptional actions and their causal foundations, which have acquired historical and moral significance for future periods as well. learns
The relationship between ethics and political science is particularly unique and complex. Because the political struggle requires the struggle of conflicting moral rules and demands. With personal aspirations, the problems of compatibility of interests of the state and society, purity or impurity of goals and means emerge. But in fact, the more moral the policy is, the more rational it is. This is one of the most important general problems that both ethics and political science are seriously investigating today. Also, the special areas of ethics, such as leadership etiquette, party etiquette, and etiquette, which are part of the culture of behavior, are closely related to political science.
In addition, in recent times, the connection between ethics and ecology is getting stronger. Historically, ethics has been largely concerned with the analysis of man's obligations to himself, others, and society, and his relationship to nature has been left out of focus. However, in the later periods, especially in the XNUMXth century, the environmental problems that arose as a result of the approaches to nature within the scope of narrow interests changed this picture. it is now recognized that global environmental problems are more related to people's social and moral views. Thus, the solution of environmental problems today is going to ethics. In the XNUMXth century, a special field called environmental ethics also emerged. However, this does not mean that ethics fully includes ecology. Because it is not nature itself as an object of moral assessment and management, but the attitude of man towards nature.
Ethics is a science that has gained great importance in all times. Only in totalitarian regimes based on tyranny, injustice and lawlessness is it subjected to lies, falsified, and thus its importance is reduced. With the independence of our country, ethics is gaining a higher position in the new society.
At this point, it is permissible to quote the following valuable thoughts of the President of our Republic, Islam Karimov: "Basically, the core of morality and spirituality", "Human morality does not consist only of greetings and politeness." Ethics means, first of all, a sense of fairness and justice, faith, and honesty." These thoughts, on the one hand, are a fair blow to those who are indifferent to the immorality left over from the old system and to those who understand ethics as a frivolous, secondary science, and on the other hand, they emphasize the great position of ethics in our new society and the need to rely on serious theoretical studies of ethics. After all, national and universal moral values and our ancient customs and traditions, which were banned or persecuted by the totalitarian system in the current conditions, can serve as a basis for the creation of modern spiritual values.
Ethics has a role in this process of renewal. In front of him, there are huge tasks such as responsibility for the moral level of the citizens of our country, especially young people, who have started to build a new democratic and legal state, and the theoretical foundation of the education of modern people who have matured in all respects. They can be implemented only on the basis of new approaches to ethics, which are ancient and have always been modern. At the moment, they can be called a part of the tasks facing the science of ethics, so to speak, the tasks of national ethics. After all, our science now has an important task of solving universal global problems, and it is impossible not to dwell on it. One of them, the most important, is related to the creation of the "ethosphere - moral atmosphere" on our planet.
It is known that for hundreds of centuries, man has lived as a small biological world in a large biological world, as a part of it, as a king of living organisms, as an intelligent and dominant part. Since the end of the XNUMXth century, especially in the XNUMXth century, with the power of thinking, thanks to the scientific and technical revolutions, within this biosphere, he created a noosphere - a technical environment. Now, look, from morning to night we live, eat, drink, walk, sleep inside our technical inventions. We cannot imagine our life without them. These are subway, bus, television, radio, telephone, escalator, elevator, computer, train, gas stoves, electrical appliances, factories, chemical drugs, etc. if we go on horseback or on foot, we don't think about how many days we have to travel, rather we don't even remember it. Because technology has become our living environment.
Not only today, man has started to influence the entire planet where he lives. For the first time in Earth's history, man emerged as a huge geological force. Human thinking has become the main cause of changes in the biosphere. The great Russian scientist VIVernadsky, one of the founders of the noosphere doctrine, said: "Today, the biosphere, which was created during the geological period and stabilized in its balance, began to undergo stronger and deeper changes under the pressure of human scientific thinking. It seems that this aspect of the movement of human scientific thinking is a natural phenomenon.
We are now experiencing a new geological evolution in the biosphere. We are entering the noosphere. But the noosphere is appearing not only as a positive but also as a negative phenomenon. The discovery of atomic, hydrogen, neutron bombs, and the creation of nuclear ballistic missiles are among such negative events. In addition, the creation of the noosphere caused chemical poisoning of the global ocean, underground and surface waters, plants, animals, and even humans from the inside. Nowadays, many species of living organisms, plants, and animals are on the verge of physical extinction. Incidents such as radioactive waste floating on ships in the ocean without finding a place, or their burial on deserted beautiful islands, and the increase in acid rain are especially dangerous. Unfortunately, a person knowingly does not stop axing the branch on which he is sitting. Solving these problems requires not only ecological cleaning of the environment from chemical poisons, but first of all, in a global sense, freeing the consciousness of the XNUMXst century man from the poison of technocracy. That is, they are not an ecological phenomenon, but a literal moral problem before mankind. From this point of view, the words of the famous Austrian ethologist, Nobel Prize laureate Konrad Lorenst: "The main reason for the phenomenon of alienation from the world and living nature, which is spreading rapidly, is the aesthetic and moral apathy of the people of our civilization." Also, another important problem is biological ethics. Over the past few decades, this phenomenon has turned from a purely medical problem into a full-fledged ethical one: how is it ethical to save a person's life by surgically transferring a specific organ to another patient? , the question is relevant on the agenda.
Because recent medical research has proven that human death does not happen instantly, when the heartbeat and breathing stop. First the cerebral cortex is destroyed, then the brain body. Only then can it be proven that a person is dead. Because now, as long as the brain does not die, it is possible to ensure that many internal organs continue to work with the help of new medical techniques, and thereby maintain the minimum level of life in a person for a long time. Therefore, transplanting a heart or a kidney is a violation of the right to minimal life of a person who is not yet dead. Moreover, based on his experiences, American heart surgeon Paul Person suggests that when the heart is transplanted, the soul is also transplanted. For example, when the heart of a 19-year-old girl was transplanted into a 40-year-old man, or when the heart and lungs of a 20-year-old girl were transplanted into a 36-year-old woman, similar changes occurred, even to the point of laughter. How can this be interpreted from a moral point of view?
A long-known problem of biological ethics is abortion. It is known that at the end of the fourth week, the first heartbeat appears in the fetus. At the end of the eighth week, the electrophysiological activity of the brain body can be observed. Therefore, any abortion is, in popular terms, making a living thing lifeless, depriving a living organism of its right to life. So, should abortion be considered immoral or not? Ethics should also find answers to these questions. Our science faces such global tasks. We can say that these tasks are the barometers that determine the importance of ethics today.
Ethics, like other social sciences, has its own system of rich concepts, with the help of which it forms its conclusions, expresses the accumulated knowledge and is divided into general ethical theory, historical ethics, normative ethics, professional ethics, ethical theory of moral education. .
The theory of general ethics deals with solving methodological problems, explains the nature, essence, specificity of ethics, its structural elements and the interrelationship of these elements, the characteristics of the development of moral consciousness, the social-class reasons for the development of ethics, its place in the life of society and examines its importance, current state and development trends.
Historical ethics studies the historical forms of ethics, the laws of its historical development and the establishment of classism in ethics in a class society, the historical development of moral theories and their place in history.
Normative axiological ethics is concerned with the study and justification of moral norms in terms of their positive significance and value, looking at the requirements of moral necessity (obligation) as the main concepts of moral consciousness.
Professional ethics deals with the tasks of creating and justifying a certain system of moral norms that regulate the interaction of people within this or that activity. The ethical theory of moral education determines the means of effective use of moral factors in the process of education and deals with issues of worldview education.
1. The wisdom in the world of science that there is no theory without history of any science applies especially to ethics. Because the history of ethics studies the emergence of moral thinking and the laws of its development, it analyzes the ways of applying and promoting moral teachings, wisdom, and teachings, which are part of the great spiritual heritage, to the life of modern society. . Although each moral conception is the fruit of the reflections and activities of a certain thinker, it essentially arises from the requirements of a certain historical period. At the same time, the problems of moral promotion, moral teachings and norms, which include the rules of etiquette and etiquette, belong to the field of compliance, ethical management, and the part of ethics that is usually called "practical ethics". constitutes
The first examples of practical ethics are proverbs and proverbs written on clay tablets in cuneiform, the world's first writing, three and a half thousand years ago. In Samir (Sumerian) alqovs (hymns), almost all the main deities are praised for being supporters of goodness, justice, truth and goodness. For example, the youth goddess Utu was a special monitor of the fulfillment of moral standards, while the goddess Nanshe is depicted in some texts as the guardian of truth, justice and compassion. But, at the same time, from the list of laws called "I" established by the gods in order to regulate the movement of the universe, to ensure its uninterrupted and harmonious existence, together with the above moral qualities - "lie" , the concepts of "discord", "gina", "kudupat", "fear" are also included. Samaritan proverbs and proverbs are also noteworthy, many of them have risen to the level of universal wisdom and are used in the East in a slightly different form. In addition, various moral problems are raised in the Epic of Gilgamesh.
The scientific, artistic, moral, and legal achievements of the Samaritans became the basis for the Babylonians' moral views. In Babylon, the epic "Gilgamesh" was created, artistically high and perfect compared to that of the Samaritans. The famous set of laws of the Babylonian king Hammurabi, whose main goal was the protection of justice and truth, was a gradual development of the ancient Sumerian laws. In this complex, the main goal is to protect the weak, orphans and the poor based on the principle of justice; Hammurabi prides himself on his generosity and justice.
In ancient Egypt, the issues of etiquette were expressed in specific pandnams. Among them, "Phatotep fertilizers are considered the oldest pandnoma that has reached us. Almost two and a half thousand years ago, the fifth dynasty pharaoh Jadkara Ise asked the minister Phatotep to replace him with his son because of his old age, and he wrote this pandnoma consisting of thirty-seven verses for his son. In it, issues such as moral laws, behavior, manners of the time are raised, and moral qualities are promoted in the form of wisdom and admonitions. Not only with their high artistry, but also with the style of universal democratic thoughts that bypassed the requirements of the era of slavery, and as an example of wisdom and humanity, they still surprise people: "A wise word is hidden like a precious stone, but it can be found in a slave girl eating grain." considering that not only in ancient Egypt, but also in ancient Greece a few thousand years after that, a slave was considered a creature not characteristic of goodness and wisdom, and if we consider that he was seen in the place of a person, it is important to understand how important this thought of Phatotep is in the development of human moral thinking. possible
2. The development of moral thinking in ancient Turonzamin and Iranzamin is related to the emergence of the Zoroastrian religion. The main moral virtues and vices of this religion, which began to spread approximately XNUMX centuries ago, are listed and interpreted in the holy book "Avesta" created in Ancient Khorezm. In it, the Zoroastrian god Ahura-Mazda appears as the embodiment of goodness, and Ahriman as the embodiment of evil: the beginning of his eternal vision between good and evil, light and darkness, life and death is reflected. Such noble concepts as "Eternal Goodness", "Good Intention", "Good Order", "Divine Subordination" acquire a real meaning and are manifested in the form of deities in humanized form, who spread goodness around Ahura-Mazda. sprinkles it. The opposite of such concepts is realized in the evil forces around Ahriman. These include Apa Mana, the personification of evil thoughts, Tuarvi, the personification of decay and death, and giants named Zarik.
Zoroastrian religion can be called a moral belief in a certain sense, and its holy book "Avesta" can be called a set of moral concepts and instructions followed by our ancient ancestors. This can be clearly seen in the following words of Zoroastrian, the leader of this religion, from the Asha alkav in "Avesta":
Rejoice Ahura-Mazda -
"May the will of the Most Worthy come true", and let Ahriman be defeated.
I appreciate good thoughts, good words, good deeds,
I devote myself to a good house, good words and good deeds
I will give you
I refrain from all evil houses, evil words and evil deeds,
My last, my praise, my good opinion,
Good words (meritorious) good deeds
along with "my soul in my body".
May it be with you from the bottom of my heart,
O immortal Guardians.
honoring the right (I say):
"Truth is the supreme blessing. He is one of the blessings
I enjoy it, may the reward be to him,
who if there is no reward (of work) in the path of truth,
if the reward does not leave the work, if the reward does not leave the work"
It is noteworthy that the interpretations in "Avesta" are related to the real life of a person. The spirit of goodness in it is the power of creativity, while Evil is manifested in the form of the power of destruction and destruction.
Goodness in the form of Ahura-Mazda, a symbol of life, enriches the earth with people, animals and plants, and a person illuminates them with the help of health, strength, happiness, joy, hope, confidence, beauty, prosperity. Evil in the form of Ahriman causes disasters such as drought, famine, disease, destruction of livestock, physical and mental destruction.
In "Avesta" it is said that along with the principles of goodness, goodness, purity and cleanliness during his life, after death, his soul will be in pleasure, while that of a sinful and virtuous person will be condemned to suffering and ugliness. . Professor Tilab Makhmudov elaborates on this in his large article "About the Avesta": after the death of a righteous person, his soul stays in his head for three days in the smell of pleasure and pleasure, and then fragrant plants pops up on his face. A strange breeze greets him. In the bosom of Shabada, a 15-year-old girl, more beautiful than all other beauties, appears. This beautiful girl is a symbol of goodness and purity, meritorious deeds. He says to the soul: "I was gentle, you made me gentler, you made me beautiful, you made me more beautiful, I was high, you raised me higher with good thoughts, good words and good deeds." The soul of a sinner and an evil person stays on the body for three days and experiences unparalleled suffering. After three days, he flies over all the evils he has created. Then he met a girl uglier than all the ugliness he had ever met in his life. When you were alive, you worshiped the giants knowingly, instead of those who believed in God. When you gave shelter to strangers from near and far, when you gave them cocktails, when you shared alms, you humiliated them, you insulted good people, you closed your door in their face. I am the bad thoughts you think, the bad words you say, the bad deeds you do. I was dishonorable, because of you I lost more weight, I was disgusting, I became more disgusting, I was ashamed, I became more shameful."
It is not difficult to understand that the problem of soul and body is expressed here. Because in "Avecro" the concept of soul-soul is not highly deified, it is "secularized" in a certain sense and appears as a conscience that communicates with its era.
It should be noted separately that in "Avesta" man is interpreted as a higher being. At the same time, it is a sacred duty of a person to love and honor all the blessings on earth and sky. Freedom and cleanliness rise from hygienic comfort to the level of morality and divine understanding: keeping water and the environment clean, not giving animals, especially dogs, sharp bones or hot food means compassion towards them; a person should be compassionate. All this shows that the first traces of ecological ethics are also present in "Avesta". The net mist gods in this holy book are at the level of the pir in our understanding (for example, the pir of blacksmithing - Hazrat David vh). God is one: Ahura-Mazda, only he is worshipped. Therefore, the first place in promoting monotheism and monotheism belongs to "Avesta". We can see that some of the traditions and beliefs of the Avesta have been preserved even today. The customs of burning incense, placing the head of a slaughtered soul in front of the relatives in the circle are also proof of our thoughts about our beloved Navruz holiday. So, as we said above, "Avesta" is valuable as a moral and aesthetic collection of our ancestors, a unique collection of our ancient traditions.
3. Ancient Indian moral thought has a special place in ancient Eastern ethics. Historically, he studied Vedicism, Yoga, Jainism, Buddhism, Bhagavadgita and Arthashastra, as well as lokoyata.
Vedic ethics divides the ancient Indian society into four classes - varna; brahmins (farmers), kshataris (soldiers), vaishchis (farmers, farmers), shchudras (slaves). According to the famous "Laws of Manu", the occupation of a Brahmin is to teach, study the Vedas, perform sacrifices, distribute alms and receive gifts, Kshataris look after the citizens, Vaishyas are engaged in livestock, commerce, usury and agriculture. they cry; and shchudras serve these three social groups. "Wife, son and slave - all three are not considered private property owners, they are acquired property of whoever owns them."
In The Laws of Manu. According to Vedic ethics, Brahmins are inherently morally superior, while Shudras are inherently moral.
But in the next stream, in yoga, Jainism, especially in Buddhist ethics, the idea that the possessor of moral qualities is not related to a person's social origin, but to his personality maturity is put forward. According to the teachings of the Buddha, the world is full of suffering and the most important problem is to find a way to get rid of this suffering. It is said that Prince Siddhartha Gautama, who lived in luxury with his peers, was walking one day and saw a sick old man and a funeral ceremony. When he hears that sickness, old age and death await everyone, he is shocked, runs away from people, leaves the world, realizes the four noble truths and conveys them to people.
Here is a brief summary of it:
1. Life in this world is full of suffering.
2. There are reasons for these sufferings.
Z. This suffering can be ended. .
4. There are ways to end suffering.
The Buddha's fourth truth is especially important from an ethical point of view. It is the path to nirvana (the state after the gradual disappearance of passion, hatred, and remorse) that the Buddha passed through and that everyone can pass through. It consists of achieving eight virtues: 1) correct views; 2) boldness; Z) correct behavior; 4) correct speech; 5) the right way of life; 6) the right effort; 7) correct direction of thought; 8) focus properly. Thus, the eight paths consist of the unity of three interdependent factors—cognition, action, and attention. Knowledge and morality have integrity here; virtue comes from knowledge (and vice from ignorance), so knowledge cannot be improved without virtue. This is the tygal conception of moral perfection: “One does not become a Brahmin because of the color of his hair, his dynasty or his caste. Whoever has the truth and dhamma, he is happy and he is brahmin," says the book of Buddhist moral rules. Thus, Buddhism denies the prestige of the Vedas, the exceptional status of Brahmins, and condemns the division of society into varnas. Undoubtedly, this was one of the manifestations of moral progress.
Buddhist ethics occupied a unique position not only in India, but also in ancient China. But there were two other areas of ethics that had great ambition and scope. One of them is Daoism.
Zhuang-zi (369-286 BC) is considered to be the founder of Daoism (XNUMXth-XNUMXth centuries BC). The essence of the main trends in Daoism is reflected in the book "Dao de xin" attributed to Lao-zi. "Dao is above everything", "root", "Mother of the Earth and Heaven", "the first foundation of the world", and "si" is the material base, and Dao creates "de" - virtue from it. Also, "dao" means road. Dao de szin can also be called "The Way of Virtue".
Man, like the universe, was created without the foundation of Dao laws, he is a part of nature, and his task is to follow the path of virtue (de). any artificial intervention, any attempt to change the order of harmony of nature, is disastrous for people, the source of all evils, innumerable misfortunes, is the departure from the laws imposed by nature. Therefore, according to Lao-tzu, activity is directed against the Dao and harms the people, his main moral principle is "uwei" - inactivity, the "dao" of a wise person, which is activity without struggle. But this non-struggle activity is actually an active behavior that is not contrary to nature, only characteristic of Dao, activity in accordance with the laws of nature.
At the same time, according to Lao-tzu, a sage increases his knowledge and does not distribute it to the people, but uses it only for the welfare of the people; "When people's knowledge is strong, it cannot be controlled. His food should be full, his clothes should be beautiful, his home should be peaceful, and his life should be happy." At that time, that is, if science does not progress, if civilization does not enter, one country will not look at the neighboring country, and there will be no war. So, the sage idealizes primitive times.
To sum up, the main goal of Daoist ethics is to make people follow the path shown by nature; the principle of inactivity is the happiness of the people - in returning to the equality and simplicity of clan relations, and the happiness of the wise is in moderation, calmness, closeness to nature.
Confucianism, the main opponent of Daoism, hates the black people for their ignorance, and considers them unfit for moral thought. After all, the moral ideal of a confidant is generous. His high qualities are self-sacrifice, honesty, loyalty, justice. He is polite in his dealings, respectfully addresses high-ranking officials, and treats the people with diligence and justice:
The main moral law in Confucianism, the main one. moral concept-gen (humanity). It is said in the book "Lun yuy" ("Wisdoms"); "He who sincerely seeks to love a person does not do evil." "Don't treat others as worthy of lust that you don't deserve, then you won't feel bad about yourself in the state or in the family." So, gen is a moral principle that determines the relationship between society and family members. The concepts of "xiao" - respect for parents and elders, "li" - honoring customs and rituals are strongly connected with it. At the moment, the meaning of the concept of "li" is much broader, it also includes the relationship to the state. Khakan (emperor) is the son of Heaven, he is the father of all under Heaven. And the order under the sky is as follows: "There should be kings, fathers, servants, and sons."
In Confucianism, there are two ways to be a virtuous person: for the people - to obey the customs without words, without thinking; and for diligent generosity is to improve oneself morally and consciously fulfill one's moral duty. Diligent generous education of Confucianism; The wisdom of the system has not lost its importance even now. "The teacher said: Yu, do you know the six stages of the six vices?" Szin-lu answered: "No." Teacher said; "Then sit down, I'll tell you." Loving humanity and not loving learning is a vice - it leads to imprudence. Love of wisdom and dislike of learning is the fault that one spends his life in small things, love of truth and dislike of knowledge is the fault is that it leads to self-harm, correctness loving and not loving learning, the disadvantage is that it leads to rudeness; Love of bravery and dislike of learning leads to rebellion, love of determination and dislike of learning leads to tyranny.
Confucian views were continued by his followers Mengzi and Xunzi. This doctrine served as the basis of Chinese ideology from the Han period (XNUMXnd century BC to XNUMXnd century AD) until the beginning of the XNUMXth century. In addition, the views of moralists such as Mo-zi, Han Fei-zi, Wang Chun, who opposed Confucianism and in the history of Chinese moral thought.
The achievements of ancient Eastern ethics did not simply become history. As a result of their assimilation, ethics rose to a new level in the polis (city-states) of Ancient Greece, which had large-scale connections with the East. Later, the ideas, applied concepts, and theoretical-practical experience previously asked in the ancient East indirectly became important for Europe today. For example, the famous legendary sage Pythagoras learned from Egyptian and Iranian scholars. While thinking about the religion of Zoroastrianism, he described Ahora-Mazda as "Their god Oramazda has a heart of truth and a body of light." Also, Ancient Greek scholars such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle widely used the philosophical and ethical teachings of the ancient East. For example, the philosophical and ethical foundations of Plato's theory of the transmigration of the soul go back to the philosophy of Ancient India.
4. When talking about ancient Greek ethics, it is customary to mention the names of four great philosophers; Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus. But, in fact, a lot of work was done on ethics even in Ancient Greece. For example, the views of philosophers belonging to the stream of sophists (wise men) such as Democritus, Pythagoras, Hippias, and Gorgias are noteworthy. As an example, let's take the views of Democritus (about 450-370 BC), who considers wisdom to be the highest virtue and reason to be the criterion of moral behavior, and defines the wise as moral and the ignorant as immoral. According to Democritus, the first teacher in life for man is need and experience. It is these that lead a person to the level of distinguishing between useful and harmful things.
Among the ancient Greek philosophers, Democritus was the first to address the inner world of man. It separates the intention (cause of the behavior) from the action. At the same time, the thinker says, "You can tell whether a person is honorable or dishonorable not only by his actions, but also by his intentions." Democtus describes modesty and confidence as a force that restrains a person from doing bad things. Only mentally weak and arrogant people attribute their failures to gods, fate and chance. An ignorant and evil person brings himself to misery because he has a wrong idea about pleasure, happiness and the purpose of life.
As for the views of Socrates (470-399 BC), he, like Confucius, considers morality and justice as an indivisible whole: "What is legal is just." Both thinkers connect the assessment of governance as good or bad with the education of citizens, and find examples of generous and generous service in the past of their countries.
According to Socrates, the polis and the citizen are not equal in terms of their rights, they are like a father and a son. The main essence of morality is wisdom, which is an unchanging and eternal female virtue. It is a perfect activity that conforms to the divine script that is considered the standard of moral behavior. The source of morality is divine, outside of man. Socrates considers the spirit (soul, heart, soul) as immortal, unlike the body, but does not develop his views. In his opinion, excessive interest in this matter is harmful. Because the gods themselves do not like the research of things that they do not want to reveal to people.
In contrast to Socrates, Plato's (427-347 BC) ethics, on the contrary, are based on ideas and teachings about the soul. According to Plato's doctrine of ideas, the world we see is just a game of shadows, and the human mind is incapable of seeing the real world. Man is like a prisoner chained to the wall of a cave, he observes only the vague shadows of the real being, and the real being is behind the shadows, invisible. Man cannot see it, but there is an immortal soul that can see that original being. It belongs to the world of ideas, but only the intellectual part of it is directed to this world, and the passionate and greedy part always pulls the rynohkop towards the earth. Plato interprets this dual aspect of the soul as a struggle between the charioteer (mind) and the foaming horses (passion and greed). When the horses come high, the spirit (heart, soul) falls from the world of ideas into the body and a person is born. The birth of a person, thus, takes place at the same time as the immersion of the soul in the gynox. All knowledge is the result of memory; the soul remembers some of what it knows from the world of ideas and does not acquire any remarkable newness in its physical life. Thus, according to Plato, morality has a divine basis, and moral virtue has been given to man from time immemorial.
Plato considers wisdom to be the highest virtue, the manifestation of the intellectual part of the soul, and recognizes sages-philosophers as the only category worthy of governing the state. Yavkurlik is characteristic of guards and soldiers who protect the state. Temperance, which is related to the soul's part of the soul, is characteristic of artisans, peasants, that is, the people. They must be subordinate to the previous caste. After them are slaves. Ashes are beyond morals, far from any virtue, and it is doubtful whether they have a soul. In addition, according to Plato, justice is not a personal virtue, but a state-specific virtue. For this reason, he says: "We recognize only the state in which each of the classes, divided into three by nature, is engaged in its own work." Also, since commerce is an industry that misleads citizens, it should be practiced by foreigners in a just state.
An important feature of Plato's ethics is that it takes divinity as the basis of morality, as a moral model. According to the philosopher, whoever wants to receive God's blessing, he should imitate him, God is the standard for all things; only one who believes and imitates God can become wise. So, Plato's ethics has a strictly religious nature. At the same time, it incorporates and develops ideas from Vedic ethics.
After Plato, the moral theories of two ancient Greek scholars - Aristotle (384-322 BC) and Epicurus (341-270 BC) are noteworthy. Plato's student Aristotle first presented ethics as a separate philosophical discipline between psychology and political science and gave it the name "Ethics" (later accepted in Europe).
Aristotle's moral views were reflected in the treatises "The Book of Nicomachean Ethics" and "The Book of Ethics of Eudemus" and "The Great Book of Ethics", mainly dedicated to his son.
Aristotle was the first among the ancient Greek thinkers to take free will as the basis of morality and, contrary to Plato, says that moral virtue is not an innate quality of the soul, but an acquired quality. He divides all qualities into two: the first, the qualities related to the mental part of the soul related to the spiritual sphere, such as wisdom, business, resourcefulness, and the second, the aspirational (voluntary) part of the soul - qualities related to pure morality. According to him, the main virtue is justice. "Virtue," says Aristotle, "is, in a certain sense, the middle, because it always strives for the middle." For example, bravery is the middle ground between crazy courage and cowardice, etc. Also, the thinker attaches great importance to intention and calls it the principle, the beginning of movement. But it is not the final goal, and the principle of the intention is desire and reason, therefore, the intention is not outside of the mind, consciousness and manners.
Contrary to Plato, Aristotle advocates the point of view of the unity of being and spirit, and says that a person achieves perfection, the highest goodness and freedom through the activity of knowledge, an active attitude to reality, and the ability to rule over lustful passions. Therefore, man has free will, because he has the same dominant position in choosing good or evil, virtue or vice.
Aristotle sees the end and the means as a whole, the end determines the means, therefore the moral nature of the end recognizes only moral means, and especially an immoral end requires immoral means.
Aristotle considers intellectual activity to be the highest form of life and activity, a value that cannot be compared with anything else. Subject and object, thought and the object of thought are compatible with each other within the framework of the Supreme Mind, that is, thinking about the thinking of the Supreme Mind (Hydo). Although man can never reach the divine level of life, but he must strive for it as far as possible as an ideal, the perfection that man attains is always relative.
Thus, according to Aristotle, a moral person is one who is endowed with intellectual qualities; mind is defined not by man, but by mind. And the female race is a low-level, weak, tearful, intemperate person, their passion is higher than intelligence, they are more prone to vices than men, so wisdom is not characteristic of them, women belong to men. submission does not violate the principle of justice. Art, politics and science for free people, the slave, in general, is a creature outside of morality, the inclusion of slaves among low-class people, even living things, stems from Aristotle's understanding of human nature as a socio-political being. For him, a person outside the society, tribe, community, state is either God or an animal. Therefore, slaves from a foreign tribe, who did not have the right of polis citizenship, were not considered human. A slave becomes a human being only when he is freed.
As we mentioned above, Aristotle puts knowledge (intellect) higher than morality (conscience) and thereby interprets the contemplative life, theoretically, the life devoted to creativity in the form of a moral ideal. Accordingly, the great thinker highly values wisdom, courage, justice, friendship, which are the traditional virtues of a citizen of the ancient world. However, his love for man, humanity is different from our current understanding that all servants are equal before God. As we saw above, in his eyes, people are not equal, the concept of equality belongs to Aristotle. He recognizes only friendship and goodwill between people.
In his views, Epicurus emphasizes the practical purpose and moral content of philosophy: "The words of a philosopher who cannot find a cure for any human suffering are meaningless. Just as there is no use of medicine that cannot cure the disease from the body, there is no use of philosophy that cannot cure the soul.
According to Epicurus, man has free will. He, like Democritus, begins his doctrine of goodness with the problem of pleasure and pain. The most important thing for him is peace of mind. He writes to one of his friends; - "It is better to lie peacefully on a bed of straw than to live in peace if your bed is full of food!" Among the virtues, Epicyptus emphasizes justice and wisdom. Emphasizes the existence of absoluteness and relativity in the concept of justice: "In general, justice is the same for everyone, because it is a useful phenomenon in interpersonal relationships, but from the point of view of the uniqueness of certain countries and in other similar conditions, justice is the same for everyone. the essence of virtues is to lead a person to pleasure, to serve peace and the active state of the soul. And happiness arises from moral and physical health.
Speaking about the fear of death, Epicurus considers its source in false ideas about the immortality of the soul and the eternity of suffering. Because the soul, like the body, consists of atoms. Everything in nature is formed from the fusion of atoms, and with their disintegration, the soul also disintegrates. To prove that the danger of death is unwarranted, he says; "The worst of evils is that death has nothing to do with us, because while we exist, death does not come, and when death comes, we cease to exist. Therefore, death has nothing to do with the living or the dead, because for some it does not exist, and for others they do not exist.
Epicurus emphasizes that suffering should be overcome rather than avoided. For this, moral determination, clarity of thought, power of thought must be put against suffering, his moral ideal is a sage, a philosopher who does not look at life on earth with hatred, but is in harmony with nature, that is, he lives in accordance with the life goal determined by nature. . It is in harmony with nature, avoiding various heresies and delusional thoughts, adjusting one's emotions with natural necessity that a wise man achieves a high level of pleasure in thinking and inner freedom. A wise man knows the measure of his strength and uses it wisely. It is clear to him that the source of happiness is only in spiritual goodness, a relatively stable and long-lasting pleasure in friendship and knowledge.
Epicurus values friendship based on equality and like-mindedness above all in human relationships. The study of philosophy, like friendship, leads to the attainment of peace of mind.
Ancient Eastern ethics, Ancient Greek ethics, which raised the achieved achievements to a high theoretical level, gained world-like importance. Greek thinkers were the first to investigate the human personality, the intention underlying human behavior, and to explain the problems of moral action.
The scientific traditions of the ancient Greek ethicists were continued by ancient Roman thinkers such as Cicero, Lucretius Carus, Seneca, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Sextus Empiricus.
Titus Lucretius Carus (99-44 BC), as a consistent defender of Epicurean ethics, in his famous epic "On the Nature of Things" emphasizes the inseparable connection between the soul and the body, thinks about the death of the soul, mentions that there is a moral meaning in a person's freedom from the fear of death. A person who is freed from the fear of the world and the fear of the gods can live happily, and with the help of intelligence and emotions, he will get a true vision of things.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca (5 BC - 65 AD) was both a writer and a moral philosopher. His treatises on ethics, such as "On Anger", "On Compassion", and "On a Happy Life" are known to many. The work "Ethical Letters to Lucilius" is especially famous. According to Seneca, the world is material, but some kind of living principle reigns in it: it does not matter if we call it intelligence, nature, prophecy or fate. The important thing is that his dream will definitely come true. The philosopher sees the meaning of virtues in acceptance of fate, in enduring its blows with courage and patience without losing human dignity. He interprets death as cold, dark, but as a guarantee of freedom. To see freedom in killing itself is undoubtedly related to the extreme tragedy of the time in which he lived. Seneca emphasizes the moral equality of the slave and the free: “Are they slaves? No people. Are they slaves? No, they are your next-door neighbors. Are they ashes? No, your obedient friends. Are they slaves? No, they are your brothers in slavery, because you and they are slaves of destiny. Of course, in this place, Seneca does not mean social equality, but the moral equality of the slave and the slave owner. The philosopher said that the freedom of the soul is a source of self-esteem for the individual and not group pride. Whoever has achieved inner freedom, he does not submit to the fate, he is ready to bravely meet the blows of fate.
Another Ancient Roman ethicist was the freed slave Epictetus (c. 50-138). His moral rules are as follows: fate is inevitable; intelligence is the only and reliable criterion of morality; the outer world depends on the will of the gods, the inner world is under the judgment of man; the will of a true sage is that he does not confuse things that are related to him with things that are not related to him; realizing the purpose and meaning of life and gaining personal inner freedom; the path leading to it is unquestioning obedience to the will of the gods, moderation in need, carelessness, doing business with a cool mind.
According to Epictetus, happiness is true happiness-virtue, and virtue is always the creation of man, because it is formed by man. The philosopher puts forward the opinion that you should not impose conditions that you do not like on others, if you do not want to be a slave, do not allow slavery around you.
Thus, Ancient Rumo ethicists raise the problem of human behavior and strive to determine the place of man in the world and the purpose of life. Such aspiration, at the same time, is typical of ancient world mymtose ethicists. Thus, the mythical ethicists of the Ancient World created everything from simple rules of etiquette, teachings and wisdom to a system of ethical theory. Shy's legacy has not lost its influence, and world ethics is still developing in many cases based on a new approach to those concepts and principles.
At this point, we think it is expedient to shed light on another issue that has not been paid enough attention to date. This is the question of the connection between ancient Greek thought and the philosophy of the Middle East, especially ethics. Why did our learned ancestors not follow the footsteps of the thinkers of the Ancient East, including the Indo-Chinese region, but the footsteps of the European Greeks, studied Socrates and Plato, raised them to heaven, and called Aristotle the greatest teacher - the first teacher?
The fact is that the basis of Islam is monotheism. Allah is the only one, He has no partner and cannot have. Ancient Greek thinkers followed exactly this path of monotheism. Socrates was the first to raise this issue clearly. When he was sentenced to death, he was accused of disrespecting the Greek gods and of diverting the youth to a different path (in fact, the path of monotheism). This is confirmed by the last words of Socrates before his death: "I am going to Him (not them! -A Sh.)!" Also, Plato's ideas about the emanation of ideas and universality go directly to the issue of single deity, but Socrates and Plato did not set themselves the task of proving monotheism from a philosophical-theoretical point of view. they didn't try. Aristotle did this. In his famous work "Metaphysics", he theoretically proved that God's oneness is immaterial, unmoved by anything, on the contrary, it is the first moving force. He calls it "Higher Form". In Aristotle's interpretation, God is considered the goal of the world and all world processes, which, as we mentioned above, is the Supreme Thought, the Thought about thinking.
This is the real reason for the imitation of the great attention paid to the ancient Greek thought, especially to ethics, by the thinkers of the Middle Ages and the Muslim East.
Basic phrases
Supreme Intelligence, Sophists, Citizen with Polis, Daoism, Buddha's Four Truths, Nirvana, Buddhism, Right Focus, Virtue (Knowledge), Vice (Ignorance), Vedicism, Avesta, Ahura- Mazda-goodness, Ahriman-evil, theory of general ethics, historical ethics, normative axiological ethics, professional ethics, egoism, stoics, eudemonism, asceticism, hedonism, manners, behavior, ethics.